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The Emperors of Byzantium (paperback) /anglais
Established in the grand city of Constantinople, the Byzantine empire was one of the most prosperous civilizations of the Middle Ages. A continuation of the Roman empire, but with a focus on Christianity, its influence spanned Europe and western Asia for over a thousand years. Despite its significance, its history remains largely unknown. Byzantine authority Kevin Lygo vibrantly recounts this magnificent and tumultuous era through the lives of its ninety-two emperors, sharing captivating stories of political endurance, religious dedication, romantic intrigue, and artistic splendor. The ensemble includes both men and women, from ruthless power-seekers to soaring intellects; the echoes of their collective reign can still be felt today.
Paperback
Published August 1, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 4, 2025
It gives a good cronological line-up of the emperors. Doesn't enter in great details, which makes a good introduction to the subject of byzantine empire history.
September 23, 2025
Good overview of what is a complex and messy topic, very good starting point for deeper research on any topic about the Byzantine state.
January 24, 2026
As soon as I saw Constantine Monomachos gazing at me coyly I knew I needed to get the book. I expected more from it.
The Forward starts by having a quick whinge about “culture wars” and I'm already rolling my eyes, but I move on.
The Book loses a of credibility almost immediately by confusing Constantine’s half uncles for his sons which left me confused for a few mins until I went to wikipedia to have a look at the family tree to try and make sense of what I was reading. I knew something was off because the book correctly mentons Constantine's step mother but forgets about her in the next few sentences.
So I was on high alert for the rest of the book.
There's a bunch of random spelling and spacing errors laced throughout as well as random naming errors, like the book calls Irene Laskarina “Irene Laskaris” multiple times which isn't that incorrect but again it's something that should have been picked up on.
Book also propagates incorrect statements which have long since proven incorrect, eg: Heraklius changed the language of the empire to Greek, no he didn't. Which is disappointing considering this came out in 2022.
There are a lot of statements which state this emperor was the first person to do this thing, when it's already told me someone else has done that exact same thing, there was something about Justinian II being the first to reign twice, even though we covered Zeno like 60 pages ago. There were also a few random other claims which either worded really strangely or obviously wrong which just left me very confused.
Also included are a few plain bizarre decisions, the book calls the “dynasty” of justin- justianian - justin ii the “Justinian Dynasty” not Justinianic or Justinian’s which was quite strange. Book also says Pulchera was the first empress to rule in her own right, cool ok tell me more but then it doesn't elaborate at all spending a combined two pages on her and Marcian as shared reign.
Book glosses over a lot leaving a basic outline of the story telling it a each individual emperor until you get to the Frankokratia which it then gives a very non specific overview of the latin empire, trebizond and epirus and then reverts to its format with the nicene emperors. It glosses over a lot but it gets the basic outline across.
It comes down to how the chapters are structured but the book ends up repeating itself way too much, which just adds unnecessary fluff to a book which already is often lacking in details, not a good combination.
The book is enjoyable but that's more because Byzantine history is so engaging than the talent of the author, however there's nothing much here for anyone who is already familiar with the subject.
It really could have used another look over, it just feels unfinished and unpolished, like I paid 30 bucks for this and you're mixing up your characters and having obvious spelling issues in the first 20 pages.
On the plus side the cover is really nice which is a shame because the content doesn't match shout out to “Steve O Connell” which i think is the cover artist.
Tldr: don't bother.
Goodreads needs to combine this with the book of the same name as a seperate edition not a seperate book.
The Forward starts by having a quick whinge about “culture wars” and I'm already rolling my eyes, but I move on.
The Book loses a of credibility almost immediately by confusing Constantine’s half uncles for his sons which left me confused for a few mins until I went to wikipedia to have a look at the family tree to try and make sense of what I was reading. I knew something was off because the book correctly mentons Constantine's step mother but forgets about her in the next few sentences.
So I was on high alert for the rest of the book.
There's a bunch of random spelling and spacing errors laced throughout as well as random naming errors, like the book calls Irene Laskarina “Irene Laskaris” multiple times which isn't that incorrect but again it's something that should have been picked up on.
Book also propagates incorrect statements which have long since proven incorrect, eg: Heraklius changed the language of the empire to Greek, no he didn't. Which is disappointing considering this came out in 2022.
There are a lot of statements which state this emperor was the first person to do this thing, when it's already told me someone else has done that exact same thing, there was something about Justinian II being the first to reign twice, even though we covered Zeno like 60 pages ago. There were also a few random other claims which either worded really strangely or obviously wrong which just left me very confused.
Also included are a few plain bizarre decisions, the book calls the “dynasty” of justin- justianian - justin ii the “Justinian Dynasty” not Justinianic or Justinian’s which was quite strange. Book also says Pulchera was the first empress to rule in her own right, cool ok tell me more but then it doesn't elaborate at all spending a combined two pages on her and Marcian as shared reign.
Book glosses over a lot leaving a basic outline of the story telling it a each individual emperor until you get to the Frankokratia which it then gives a very non specific overview of the latin empire, trebizond and epirus and then reverts to its format with the nicene emperors. It glosses over a lot but it gets the basic outline across.
It comes down to how the chapters are structured but the book ends up repeating itself way too much, which just adds unnecessary fluff to a book which already is often lacking in details, not a good combination.
The book is enjoyable but that's more because Byzantine history is so engaging than the talent of the author, however there's nothing much here for anyone who is already familiar with the subject.
It really could have used another look over, it just feels unfinished and unpolished, like I paid 30 bucks for this and you're mixing up your characters and having obvious spelling issues in the first 20 pages.
On the plus side the cover is really nice which is a shame because the content doesn't match shout out to “Steve O Connell” which i think is the cover artist.
Tldr: don't bother.
Goodreads needs to combine this with the book of the same name as a seperate edition not a seperate book.
August 31, 2025
Very interesting. You’re scanning through several hundred years of history, so the detail is going to be scant and a lot of this is going to read inevitably as “and then he went here and did this and then he did this and then he died” without getting the scale of decades between those events.
Still this book gives lots of interesting vignettes of the lives of the Byzantine emperors - some of which are clearly worthy of a book of their own and some of which are barely worthy of the page they get here! This was an area of history I’m not that familiar with, except where they intersect with Western Rome or later crusader events and this was a great way for find out more about them. One or two who sparked an interest might well appear on future reading lists to go into a bit more depth.
Overall, for a layperson with a mild interest in ancient - medieval history, this was a good read.
Still this book gives lots of interesting vignettes of the lives of the Byzantine emperors - some of which are clearly worthy of a book of their own and some of which are barely worthy of the page they get here! This was an area of history I’m not that familiar with, except where they intersect with Western Rome or later crusader events and this was a great way for find out more about them. One or two who sparked an interest might well appear on future reading lists to go into a bit more depth.
Overall, for a layperson with a mild interest in ancient - medieval history, this was a good read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews